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JISC Circular 4/08
JISC Grant 4/08: Full TextJISC Learning and Teaching Innovation Grants: Call for Initial ProposalsVersion 4 - May 2009
Sent To:
 
Heads of Higher Education Institutions funded by the Higher EducationFunding Councils for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern IrelandHeads of Further Education Institutions in England which teach higher education to more than 400 FTEsHeads of Further Education Institutions in Scotland, Wales andNorthern IrelandOf InterestTo:Pro Vice Chancellors for (e)Learning and (e)ResearchDirectors of Information Services and SystemsLearning Resource Managers, Librarians and ArchivistsPrincipal Investigators in Research TeamsLearning TechnologistsHeads of e-Learning and ILT Managers 
Introduction
1.The Joint Information Systems Committee
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 (JISC) invites institutions to submit fundingproposals for innovative projects in the e-learning domain.
 
Programme/InitiativeTheme / ContextDescriptionFunds
Learning andTeachingInnovationGrantse-LearningProjects and activities that fit with the vis-ion, outcomes and principles of the JISCe-Learning programme and support innov-ative approaches to learning and teach-ing, identify areas of activity suitable for further investment and enhance the over-all educational experience of studentsthroughout the sector by identifying andsolving common problems that are notcovered by existing or planned JISC pro-grammes.Projects can run for up to 12 months, andwork in any aspect of the e-learning do-main.Grants of £25,000 to£75,000, with at least£600,000 available over the life of the programme(which commenced inMay 2008).
2.The next deadline for receipt of proposals in response to this call is
12:00 noon on 20 July2009
. Further deadlines will be provided online. 3.Funding is available for projects over a twelve month period starting from 1 November 2009(see paragraph). All projects must be complete by 30 October 2010.
Eligibility
4.Proposals may be submitted by HE institutions funded via HEFCE, SFC, HEFCW and DELNorthern Ireland, and by FE institutions funded via SFC, DCELLS Wales and DEL NorthernIreland. FE institutions in England that teach HE to more than 400 FTEs are also eligible to bidprovided proposals demonstrate how the work supports the HE in FE agenda.5.Proposals may be from single institutions or consortia. Partnership arrangements may bedeveloped outside the sector (for example with research council sites, publishers, commercialsuppliers), but the lead partner must meet the criteria outlined above. Funds can only beallocated through the lead partner.6.Only one proposal per lead institution will be considered at each assessment point.
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Further information on JISC is available at:http://www.jisc.ac.uk 
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JISC Circular 4/08
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/05/circular408.aspx7.Prospective bidders should also note the following requirements:a.
The proposal must not duplicate existing JISC funded
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or planned
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work.
Are thereother projects or programmes covering this area of work? Is the project offeringsomething distinct from what already exists?b.
The proposal must not be part of the core institutional remit.
Is this something your institution should be doing anyway, via core funding from the funding council (e.g.student feedback and quality assurance is generally considered part of the institutionscore remit)?c.
The proposal must not include the development or purchase of learningmaterial/learning content.
Projects that propose to create, commission, or repurposelearning material such as lecture notes, learning objects, podcasts, videos, trainingmaterials or virtual world artefacts will not be eligible. However, it would be acceptable toinclude this as part of an institution’s contribution.d.
The proposal should not include the further development of an existing tool
unlessthere is significant demand from a suitable identified community. Note: an example of asuitable community would include staff from a consortia of institutions (whereas staff from a single institution would not).e.
The proposal should not include software and equipment purchase
Given the smallsize of these grants the purchase of software and equipment for your project cannot beincluded. However, it is permissible for this to be included as part of institutionalcontributions.f.
The proposal must have the support of the lead institution and any partners.
At thisstage you must give your assurance that senior staff in each partner have beenconsulted and agreed to the proposal. We reserve the right to check this independently.A financial contribution commensurate to the potential impact of the project on theinstitution is expected.g.
The proposal must not be a direct resubmission of a previous bid to a JISC fundedprogramme.
At this stage you should note any previous bids that your proposal is basedon. We will also check our records. Resubmitted bids will be expected to differ substantially from their initial forms, taking into account JISC feedback where available.In very rare cases the resubmission of very high quality bids judged “out of scope” in aprevious call may be acceptable. Bids that did not meet the deadlines of previous callsmay be submitted if they meet the criteria.
Background
8.JISC supports higher and further education by providing strategic guidance, advice andopportunities to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to support research,teaching, learning and administration. JISC is funded by all the UK post-16 and higher education funding councils.9.JISC have released several calls for proposals around the e-learning domain, though thesehave been targeted to particular areas of need identified by consultation or strategic need.With this call we are looking for projects that fall outside of our recent calls – ideas that couldhave a major impact on your institution and the wider sector.10.JISC have run three previous rounds of the Learning and Teaching Innovation Grant fundingopportunity in May 2008, August 2008 and January 2009. In total the programme hassupported nine projects
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. JISC is continuously working to improve this experimental fundingprocess and as part of this a review of the process was conducted in early 2009, reporting inMarch 2009. The review included a desk based analysis of bids to the first two rounds alongwith an examination of the assessment process. As a result, a number of changes to thedocumentation have been made based on the recommendations of the report. A copy of thereport is available to read athttp://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/elearningltig.aspx#downloads .
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JISC Circular 4/08
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/fundingopportunities/funding_calls/2009/05/circular408.aspx
Programme Scope
11.Between May 2008 and May 2011, JISC intends to fund projects and activities that fit with thevision, outcomes and principles of the e-learning programme (Annex E) and supportinnovative approaches to learning and teaching (as defined in paragraph below). Proposalsare sought for projects which identify areas of activity suitable for further investment and thatwill enhance the overall educational experience of students throughout the sector byidentifying and solving common problems that are not covered by existing or planned JISCprogrammes.12.For the purposes of this call, innovative proposals are considered to be ones which fulfil thefollowing:are unique or pioneering – something that has not been done previouslycould be considered to be a "high-risk" interventionuse IT to directly benefit learning or the learning processare not just innovative to the bidding department or institution, but can also beconsidered to be innovative within the wider JISC community13.In addition, proposals will be expected to demonstrate:that they have a potential to be a benefit to the whole JISC communityhow the project will address the needs of users, including:-brief use case scenario(s) the project is designed to meet (e.g. which specific namedcommunity is being addressed by the project, what the requirement for this is andhow the bid will meet these requirements)the potential to be scalable and replicablesome potential for sustainability14.Bidders are expected to reference existing work, JISC funded and elsewhere
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that overlapswith the proposed project, clearly expressing why the project is innovative in this context.15.A two-stage process will be used to identify suitable projects to support. An initial outlineproposal, submitted by email, will allow us to filter for eligibility and select interesting ideas tobe further explored at interview. Projects selected for the interview stage will be expected toprovide additional information to support their interview (see paragraph).16.The programme is being run in this way in order to reduce the initial investment in time andresource needed to develop a traditional JISC proposal, and to encourage the submission of speculative and innovative ideas from the community.17.Funded projects should contribute to one of the key outputs and outcomes across the e-learning programme. These include:
a.
Improved understanding at practitioner and senior management level of the potential of ICT to support learning and teaching at departmental, institutional, regional or nationallevels, and the strategic implications of this;
b.
The stimulation of positive and informed change in the sector through the enhanced ca-pacity, knowledge and skills around the use of ICT to support learning and teaching, es-pecially lifelong, workplace and flexible learning;
c.
Support for personalization, and pedagogic and institutional diversity, at departmental,institutional, regional or national levels;
d.
The continuing development of a flexible technical infrastructure which supports a ser-vice oriented approach, is based on community involvement and collaboration, andaims to maximize cost effectiveness and flexibility;
e.
Support for the delivery of national policy on lifelong, workplace and flexible learningand the provision of strategic leadership to the sector; and
f.
Enhanced knowledge of, and experience in, the current use and potential of e-learningas a basis for future funding decisions for the JISC and its sub-committees.18.This circular invites proposals
in any area
related to the JISC e-learning programme.
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